I used to assume comfort was always a blessing. Why wouldn’t I? In a world of chronic stress, heartbreak, and bad news, who doesn’t want to feel a little better?
But the Lord keeps pressing a hard, liberating truth on my heart: My craving for comfort can quietly chain me to the very things Christ came to set me free from.
Small Escapes, Heavy Chains
It starts innocently enough:
- A scroll through social media when my mind feels fried.
- “Just one” episode that turns into an evening of binge-watching.
- A new dress that flatters my mood more than my figure.
- Foods my body can’t handle but my emotions insist on.
- A workout obsession that looks disciplined but is really punishment in yoga pants.
- Extended fasting that secretly tries to earn God’s approval instead of receiving His grace.
- An “I’ve-got-this” control streak—planning every detail so I never have to trust God with the unknown.
- Running to an unhealthy relationship because any affection feels better than none.
None of these acts is sinful in isolation. Exercise, fasting, Netflix, even dessert can all be good gifts. Yet each can become a master when I reach for it first—before I reach for Christ.
“Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey— either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness?”
Romans 6:16
What I obey for relief—calories, compliments, control—eventually commands me. As the apostle Paul warns:
“I will not be mastered by anything.”
1 Corinthians 6:12
When I ignore that boundary, chains form link by link.
The Many Faces of Modern Slavery
Sometimes the shackles are obvious: drug/alcohol use, compulsive buying, pornography, gambling. The dangers of those may be (but are not always) easier to recognize and harder to dismiss.
Add to those traps the others that are not only socially acceptable but often applauded:
| Enslaving Substitute | How It Promises Comfort | How It Enslaves |
| Exercise & diet | “Control your body, feel powerful.” | Body image becomes an idol; rest feels like failure. |
| Perfectionistic planning | “Nothing can go wrong if every detail’s handled.” | Anxiety spikes when life stays unpredictable (and it will). |
| Rom-com marathons & game grinds | “Numb out, laugh, forget the day.” | Time evaporates; purpose drifts; relationships wilt. |
| Chasing applause | “Their approval will fill the ache.” | One “like” is never enough; my worth swings on others’ whims. |
| Ministry busyness | “Serve harder and you’ll matter more.” | Burnout replaces joy; performance eclipses abiding. |
Each lure whispers, Escape the pain. Yet every escape detours me from the only Comforter whose yoke brings rest.
“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28–30
Discomfort Has a Discipling Purpose
God never glorifies pain for pain’s sake. But He often redeems pain for growth’s sake.
- Trials shape endurance
“Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”
James 1:2–4
- Affliction teaches dependence
“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.’ Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.”
2 Corinthians 12:9
- Discipline yields peace
“No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
Hebrews 12:11
- Affliction awakens the Word
“It was good for me to be afflicted so that I could learn Your statutes.”
Psalm 119:71
When I treat every discomfort as an emergency exit instead of a classroom, I short-circuit the lessons the Spirit designs to mature me. I may even be trying to supersede His will—crafting my own sanctification syllabus because His feels too hard.
Holy Questions for the Moment of Urge
Before you tap the shopping app, lace up for an extra workout, or open that second pint of ice cream, pause and ask:
- What am I truly seeking right now—relief or redemption?
- Have I shared this ache with Jesus before reaching for ____?
- Will this choice draw me nearer to the Spirit or deeper into self-reliance?
- If God is using this discomfort to refine me, how might my escape delay that work?
- Could the very pain I’m dodging be a doorway to greater freedom?
Practical Ways to Turn Discomfort into Dialogue with God
- Breathe & Name It – “Father, I’m feeling lonely / anxious / inadequate.” Naming disarms shame.
- Listen to the Ache – Ask, “What longing is underneath this urge?” (security, affection, worth?).
- Search the Word – Let His words address the root, not just the symptom:
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
2 Corinthians 3:17
“The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need… Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me.”
Psalm 23:1, 4
“He did not even spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all. How will He not also with Him grant us everything?”
Romans 8:32
- Invite Accountability – A trusted friend can remind you that comfort ≠ freedom.
- Replace, Don’t Just Resist – Swap binge-scrolling with a walk while praying Psalm 63.
- Celebrate Small Surrenders – Every time you choose prayer over panic, you reinforce new neural pathways of trust.
The Comfort That Liberates
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
2 Corinthians 1:3–4
Notice: His comfort doesn’t merely anesthetize pain; it equips us to comfort others. Self-focused escapes spiral inward. Spirit-given comfort ripples outward.
“For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Galatians 5:1
Freedom isn’t found in softer cushions but in stronger surrender. The cross proves that true comfort often travels through discomfort—yet ends in resurrection joy.
Final Thought
The next time discomfort tightens around your chest, don’t sprint for the nearest escape hatch. Inhale. Exhale. Whisper:
“Lord, is there something You want to teach me here instead of letting me run from it? I choose Your comfort over counterfeit relief.”
Your pain may not be a prison after all. It might be the very path the Father is clearing toward spacious freedom.
And rest assured: the comfort will come. Not from the things you’ve used to avoid Him, but from the One who endured every discomfort to set you gloriously free.
a surrendered life 